OGS was a “two-week marijuana eradication effort that began July 29 was carried out by California National Guard and U.S. Army active-duty personnel,” under direction of the Bureau of Land Management, according to a January 26, 1991 article in the Times-Standard.

The operation was centered on BLM land but private citizens filed a class action lawsuit. The Civil Liberties Monitoring Project called it “a harassment search and destroy mission” deployed with “the old cowboy mentality.”

The Marquee at the Garberville Theater featured messages to the invading army, as seen in the photo (top center). One day it read “Green Sweep U.S.A. – Another $700 Hammer,” according to the New York Times.

Green Sweep netted a mere 1,400 plants, according to the Civil Liberties Monitoring Project. It’s a pittance compared with the 16,000 plants nabbed in this year’s “Southern Sweep,” but even that amount was criticized for requiring 450 federal agents. Humboldt County Sheriffs snuffed 10,000 plants alone just two weeks before Southern Sweep.

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Oh, my, how times have changed, with the rape and pillage of our public lands by industrial growers. I live off of Red Mountain (yes, where the 2,700-acre fire is right now), and I don’t DARE go hiking up there by myself – a fact that angers me to tears. I’ve only been there once (with one other person), for a lovely April hike where we encountered rain below 3,000 feet and snow above 3,000. However, there have been several considerable busts up there since then, people who have hiked there have found evidence of same, and the first firefighters on the scene for the Noble Fire (two summers ago) saw armed, masked men in camouflage. Whose civil liberties are being destroyed now?

Mine. The taxpayer who can’t use her own public lands, in her own back yard.

Legalize it. Tax it. End this bullshit.

Anonymous

July 5, 2008 at 3:23 pm

Anything that brings 450 people overnight, staying in our hotels and eating at our restaurants is a boost to our economy. Outside dollars infused. Please, come back and visit again.

Ed

July 5, 2008 at 4:58 pm

Unfortunately, we taxpayers are footing the bill. They aint tourists.

Anonymous

July 5, 2008 at 5:09 pm

“There are foreign drug-trafficking organizations operating in and around Humboldt County,” Sheriff Gary Philp said in a news release. “These marijuana grows can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to those organizations and they can be motivated to protect their investment.”

Should a member of the public happen upon a grow site, the Sheriff’s Office stated, they should immediately leave the area and notify law enforcement.

Well, if I were to stumble across a grow site on public land, of COURSE I’d notify the Sheriff’s Office, BLM, etc. The problem is, I don’t want to risk getting shot!

Two springs ago, while I was working at KMUD, the Forest Service issued a lengthy press release advising people NOT to go into two public areas where activity had been reported; in two separate incidents within 24 hours of each other, two hunters who did not know each other had been shot at, and one had seen the men who fired the warning shots.

It’s completely nuts. The environmental, societal, and economic costs of keeping marijuana illegal are astronomical. And I don’t want to hear any namby-pamby arguments about how “it’s not illegal, all you need to do is get a medical-marijuana prescription.” That’s mostly crap, and we all know it. I know cancer patients and others for whom it’s done a world of good, but the reality is, the vast majority of people use it recreationally. Why can’t we just be honest about it?

Sara Winnemuuca

July 5, 2008 at 6:46 pm

Why couldn’t the recent pot raids focused on the BLM lands?
“Armed, masked men in camoflauge”…sounds to me like tweaked out Iraqi War vets? If true, this war is costing us even more than we ever imagined….

Jane Doe

July 5, 2008 at 6:58 pm

Probably because the feds already own BLM land. This raid wasn’t about busting pot gardens so much as gathering information to seize land and assets.

With all due respect, Sarah, I don’t think “tweaked out Iraqi vets” would have the discipline it takes to run a large marijuana garden, day after day, week after week, month after month. And no one who’s operating them would hire tweakers to be in charge of something with that much moneymaking potential.

Jane Doe

July 5, 2008 at 7:53 pm

That reminds me of when our illustrious former supervisor, Anna Sparks, went on national TV and said that Vietnam veterans were booby trapping the woods to protect their pot gardens.

Yes, my question was about Sparks. greedyDan, WHO can hopefully read? ;)

Jane Doe

July 5, 2008 at 9:28 pm

What is it about Republicans? They love the troops but hate the individual soldiers.

Moviedad

July 5, 2008 at 10:27 pm

Please don’t disrespect the soldiers. Isn’t it bad enough that they are ultimate pawns in this illegal war? If we have been betrayed, haven’t they been betrayed first, being led to their deaths? “Tweaked-Out” Iraqi war veterans are more than capable of running a pot growing operation. What do you think this government is training these people to do? I think they are capable of just about anything, except changing their mission. Only we can do that.

Moviedad

July 5, 2008 at 10:48 pm

Oh, My God! The Feds have attacked the Rainbow Gathering! I don’t know about you but I have friends there. I knew it was a bad idea to leave the West. Wyoming is Red!

Moviedad, I most certainly didn’t mean to disrespect the soldiers. My comment wasn’t directed to veterans, but rather, to tweakers. I don’t think they’d have the attention span to care for one of those scenes in the deep woods for months on end.

meth and cheese..I LOVE IT..

July 6, 2008 at 6:50 am

Attention span……..sheeeet……I can go for hours working on a pinhead….

matt

July 6, 2008 at 8:42 am

legalize
drugs
give americans a choice to teach their kids about drugs do not let the govt do it for us. it costs so much to keep someone in prison . with that same money we could send them to college or open 5 rehab centers for the cost to keep someone in prison for a year. i choose not to eat bacon grease layered with thick cheeze sauce while served on a dirty ashtray. so does that mean it needs to be illegal. tell me it is and all will start selling the shit for 3200 a pound and get everyone to think its cool. choices
does the govt need to tell you what is good for you and what is not and if you do not listen you sit in prison with murdered and rapists and thieves.
please people let freedom reign get rid of the inbalances
thank you

Estelle fennell covered “operation Greensweep” extensivly on KMUD. It was On the News almost constantly. It was very revealing. I wonder if the have any of those old broadcasts?
They were certainly dramatic.

sunnybrayer

July 6, 2008 at 9:42 am

Matt,
I wish you would have finished your education, or at least not been stoned out of your head throughout high school. You make a few good points, but your spelling and grammer are so bad that it is difficult to decifer your message. I am guessing that you probably started smoking pot at age 12 or so, that’s about where your commication skill level is at.

Proven fact: cognitive growth tends to stall out at the age a person starts drinking, smoking pot, using any sort of brain-changing substance on a regular basis. That’s why you get all these 40 year olds acting like idiot teenagers.

Anonymous

July 6, 2008 at 9:45 am

grammar

decipher

communication

Jane Doe

July 6, 2008 at 9:53 am

um….. Moviedad, did you read the article about what led to the “attack?” The forest service officials detained 2 men and as they tried to leave with them they were surrounded by approximately 400 Rainbows who then proceeded to throw sticks and rocks at them. There is no discrepancy between the forest service and the Rainbows as to what transpired, just what led up to it.

tad

July 6, 2008 at 10:15 am

Peace be with you Jane

I have seen that tactic done many times at gatherings. I don’t believe the stone throwing bullshit. I have also seen the cops use that excuse before. Hell cops beat entire crowds claiming riotous conditions that no film footage could prove. It should be extremely difficult for cops to remove innocent people from among us. The non-violent tactic of surrounding the cops and demanding the release of our community members should be used on our streets, not just at Rainbow gatherings. What led up to it was the cops invading a peaceful gathering in order to create an “incident.” Seen it before and as long as we’re a fascist country I’ll see it again.

love eternal
tad

Moviedad

July 6, 2008 at 10:16 am

I read quite a few statements from both sides. The fact that law enforcement personnel acted aggressively in the ‘children’s village’ was a clear sign that they were trying to provoke a response from the gatherers.
I sense that you are quick to defend and excuse the heavy handed actions by the Feds. I have experienced first hand how these operations work. They are Gestapo tactics. Did you read the charges that have been handed down? A taillight out gets you detained and searched? Why do people defend un-constitutional actions by this fascist regime? My country has been taken over by these traitors and well meaning folks, such as yourself rush to defend them. No offence to you personally. Perhaps you have never been a victim of police brutality. You most certainly have never seen cops beat and kick a young mother visciously while she tried to protect her child. As I did in Snowhomish, WA in 1979. In East LA during the early 1970’s, the LA County Sheriffs were the most dangerous people you could have run into on the road at night. Nowadays, they kill with impunity. Oh sure, they kill only “Bad-guy’s”. The police of the new millennium are mostly thugs, who have thrown individual rights out the window. Do you think they are justified traumatizing children? For what capital offences were these people guilty of? What would be your response if police started shooting into crowds of people with children with rubber bullets and pepper spray? What if your child was in that crowd?
I am so disappointed to hear you defend this action by our government. Mostly I’m sad that it is intelligent thoughtful people, which I assume you are one from your previous posts, who unknowingly support the destruction of our country by these traitors.

matt

July 6, 2008 at 10:18 am

please tell me then what a 40 should act like
should i have a fat gut
should i be putting people down for spelling
your points are weak grammar, 12 year olds, i know i can’t spell but i am passionate about freedom. my points are on target and it does not require superior comprehension skills to understand. yeah i started smoking at 13 and feel that it has kept me from fighting, vandalizing, and killing. pot was the best thing for my temper and my life and still is . i come from violence i was adopted at birth into violence and felt things no other person has felt. Pot has given me the time to think about my actions before going out and executing them. which has kept me from prison and all sorts of problems. sorry sunnybrayer if my mom was not there like yours was(silver spoon) but with the aid of marijuana i feel i turned out to be something useful to people around me. don’t steal, don’t damage other people things. my points are perfect my spelling is not sorry you have some stupid pet peeves about spelling. sorry it bothers you that i put something into my body . do you have any thing else to say, you need to wise up about freedom and start peaching it . or else your going to have 12 year olds or people who sound like they are preaching it to you and yours.\
god forbid you ever hear a hip hop song and read the lyrics to that sunnbrayer it might give you a all out stroke..
geezer lame

Jane Doe

July 6, 2008 at 10:20 am

People have to follow the laws even if there are 7,000 of them in a group in the woods, Moviedad. I personally find the claims that they were pointing guns at kids in the kid village preposterous. But even if true, that doesn’t give the hundreds of Rainbows the right to surround and throw sticks and rocks at forest service workers just doing their jobs. Can’t you find a more credible source than Infowars? Alex Jones is a nutcase.

Moviedad wrote, “Why do people defend un-constitutional actions by this fascist regime?”.

That sort of stuff has been going on long before Bush came to power.

matt

July 6, 2008 at 10:26 am

moviedad sorry for my poor grammar if you even care but god i love what you say keep up the great responses i hope i don’t embarrass you by taking your side. but the police have never helped anyone i know, maybe a jump start and thats it. we need more heroes crazy or stupid it does not matter. someone anyone who will rise up and end this police state of affairs. someone who will get into the hearts and minds of these robots. who defend the fed and their actions.

Jane Doe

July 6, 2008 at 10:33 am

Excuse me for inserting reason in this hate all authority rant, but forest service officers have a responsibility to enforce the law on federal lands. They were carrying out their duties arresting a lawbreaker when they were surrounded by hundreds of people who wouldn’t let them leave and started throwing sticks and rocks. They had to call for reinforcements. The forest service wasn’t just running around shooting rubber bullets at harmless people but at people who had surrounded them, obstructing their work, threatening and assaulting them. The forest service didn’t put children in that situation, their parents did.

matt

July 6, 2008 at 10:33 am

blogs are a place for me to release my tangents

sunnybrayer

July 6, 2008 at 11:02 am

Sorry Matt about your painful childhood. I was adopted at age seven…I bet we have a similar upbringing. I choose optimism instead of hate. I chose not to numb out, but to heal using my own cognitive tools. I believe in education as a means of empowerment. If you truly want to change laws, you need to articulate yourself, present your arguments with clarity, and work within the law so as to be taken seriously.

matt

July 6, 2008 at 11:03 am

rainbow gathering leave no trace of the gathering its peaceful, the land is left better than found if their was trash b4 it will be cleaner in the end, why can’t the most free and poor people come to gather. the feds treat it like some g8 summit in reverse. you know how there are protest to keep these powerful people from meeting. member washington and the wto meeting that was broken up. well i guess the fed thinks these hippies are powerful and need to seperate them b4 a thinktank for freedom starts. or maybe they just realize that these rainbow gathering are basic human rights movements that start waves that only get bigger when they reach mainstream. music artists go to gathering get insight and bring it back through tunes so your shildren can listen to it and think different than what the public schools are teaching

Flip Side

July 6, 2008 at 11:11 am

Sunnybrayer,

It’s spelled “decipher,” not “decifer.” So when did YOU start abusing drugs?

Picking on spelling, and then jumping to conclusions about the speller’s education and personal habits…ain’t it just so fun and easy?

Jane Doe

July 6, 2008 at 11:11 am

7,000 people in one place is very powerful and that is why they gather, Matt. Surely you don’t think there should be no authorities present with a gathering that large. Their claims of a peaceful gathering were proven false when they surrounded and assaulted people who were just doing their job. Defending this type of violent behavior lessens your own credibility.

matt

July 6, 2008 at 11:14 am

i jump and rant if you do not understand because i did not spell check or put a s at the end i hope your wheel of fortune days will help you figure my blog out.\
i feel what i say is from the heart, i do not want people mad i just want them to understand what i mean . if you do not understand ask “what do you mean by this matt” and i will do my best to answer

matt

July 6, 2008 at 11:18 am

did the fed get called out there?
why did they want to even mess with those people?
who can tell anyone not to assemble?
the feds always try to break up these clean and yes i mean clean gatherings. people do not drink at these if they do they have to do it in this little area . there is never any violence that needs policing and can not be handled by the fellow raibows. these are just ways for the fed to take the trully free and smash thier rights..

matt

July 6, 2008 at 11:20 am

feds were not doing their jobs they
or their jobs have been changed to enforce the police state
when the fed gets out of hand the people must rise up
too bad everyone hates on each other to realize were all sedated and worthless right now and all we have to do is gather in the masses to change things

Think About It

July 6, 2008 at 11:27 am

So neither Moviedad nor Jane Doe was at the Rainbow Gathering, and neither one witnessed what really happened. So both of them interpret the situation according to their pre-existing beliefs. Jane assumes that the cops are telling the truth about how the incident started, and telling the truth about the stone-throwing. She assumes that the cops would not point guns at children, meanwhile Moviedad assumes the Rainbows’ reports about the provocations by the cops, and their heaveyhandedness are accurate and that the stone throwing by the Rainbows didn’t happen.

I wasn’t there either, but I have been to a few Rainbow Gatherings in the past. My speculation about what really happened would be that the truth probably lies somewhere in between. The forest service HAS been trying to outlaw and disrupt these gatherings for many years. You can get a history of these interactions and related court cases on the Rainbows’ unofficial website at welcomehome.org At the same time, I have no illusion that all attendees are always as peaceful and as wise as their elders are, or that Rainbow attendees are immune to the kind of mob mentality that can suddenly take shape in a crowd, especially one that perceives that an injustice is being done and that they may have the numbers to stop it, or at least stand in it’s way. And of course cops, forest service or otherwise, can display the very same mob mentality themselves.

Perhaps some video will surface, from one side or the other, or from both, that will shed more light on what really happened. Again, my guess is that the truth will reside somewhere in between the two sets of stories.

“Randall Kelton, who co-hosts an Austin, Texas, based radio show, says his colleague Deborah Stevens reported by satellite phone that federal officials had instigated the confrontation and that the crowd control tactics were extreme.”

love eternal
tad

Jane Doe

July 6, 2008 at 11:29 am

You are either incapable of reason or a liar Matt. There have been many incidents of drunkeness and drugged out people causing problems at Rainbow gatherings. It is the responsibility of the forest service to guard our federal forests and when 7,000 people gather there, it would be irresponsible for there to be no authorities present. They are always present in such situations and are usually needed as they were last year at the gathering in Modoc where 26 people were arrested and 264 written violation notices issued by Forest Service law enforcement officers. There were people turned over to local law enforcement for outstanding warrants and even car theft. When people get caught breaking the law they get arrested, even if they claim to be peaceloving and nonviolent Rainbows. When people interfere with arrests and assault officials, they can get hurt.

Jane Doe

July 6, 2008 at 11:30 am

Yeah, they “instigated it” by arresting a lawbreaker. Get real!

Think About It

July 6, 2008 at 11:33 am

Again, Jane, you’re assuming that the crowd really did “assault” the cops, and that the cops were “just doing their jobs.” Since neither you nor I were there, neither of us is in much of a position to know what really happened. Same with Matt and Tad.

Maybe after more eyewitness reports, on both sides, have emerged, we’d at least have a chance to decide which set of eyewitness reports are more credible, based on how much internal contradiction there is between the stories on each side. But at this point alll of you are just lining up alongside the “facts” that you are most comfortable believing. That gets us nowhere.

Jane Doe

July 6, 2008 at 11:41 am

BTW, there were 19,000 Rainbows at Modoc and the officials didn’t have to shoot anyone with rubber bullets when they arrested 26 people.

Common sense tells me that there is no reason the forest service would make up a lie about trying to arrest someone and being surrounded by hundreds of stick and rock throwing people and that people of a certain anti-authority mentality are likely to try to prevent an arrest of one of their members with such overwhelming numbers. I wish common sense were more common.

matt

July 6, 2008 at 11:48 am

jane please answer this
Why did the fed go out their in the first place.?
i bet the only reason was to break the gathering?
no one called to report a crime

so you get real

and get back to your police state
get in line or else jane you will be prsecuted to the fullest extent of admiralty law..
do you know what admiralty law is. do you know what common law is .. the hippies are not pirates this is not mutiny on the bounty . this is mutiny on manifestation destination.

matt

July 6, 2008 at 11:49 am

maritime voyage on land people
tie your knots right or else the ship will sink.

Jane Doe

July 6, 2008 at 11:50 am

It’s their JOB, Matt. You know, those things that people do to earn a living and keep a roof over their heads? Maybe not.

Think About It

July 6, 2008 at 11:51 am

Unless you were present at a trial that has already been completed, Jane, you certainly don’t know that they “arrested a lawbreaker.” Thankfully it takes more than an arrest to prove that someone has broken a law.

This reminds me of the idea promulgated by the Bushies that we shouldn’t give trials to the people at Guantanamo Bay because that would be “giving terrorists rights.” The problem, of course, is that no one has proven that the individual who is being denied a trial is a “terrorist” and without a trial, there will be no proof one way or the other.

Of course, I’m not accusing you of supporting the Bush administration’s position on Guantanamo detainess, I just thought I would point out the danger of circular logic whereby we assume that people who are arrested are “lawbreakers” and that their (unproven) lawbreaking is therefore justification for their arrest, their treatment, the treatment of others who object to police behavior, etc.

As far as the big picture, in my opinion there is indeed a need for a presence for some sort of law enforcement staff at these Gatherings. I have read about incidents in the past where people with sexual predator / child molester records were found to be volunteering in the Kids Village, and reported by other Rainbow attendees and then apprehended by the cops. And of course any time you have thousands of people gathered, there will almost always be a few who take advantage of the good will of the majority to perpetrate crimes, including theft, assault, etc. Then the challenge for whatever “law & order” authority is present is how to uphold important “laws” without straying into too much into unnecessary acts to mantain “order.”

The decision of whether to take an aggressive, provacative approach to policing these Rainbow Gatherings seems to rest, in part, with local Forest Service officials. As a result, the overall record of interactions between the Forest Service and the Rainbows in recent years is a mixed one, often peaceful and cooperative, but sometimes confrontational and oppositional.

tad

July 6, 2008 at 11:51 am

Peace be with you Jane

Have you ever been to a national rainbow gathering? Basically feds and local cops don’t like the Rainbows. Once before 911 the rainbow family was on the FBI’s list for “organizations” (and their definitely not an organization) who could “destroy America’s way of life.” You don’t gointo kiddy village pointing pepper ball guns at kids and attacking mamas. If the tribe hadn’t done what they did then it would of been just another example of cops terrorizing the family and no one knowing the family’s side. At least now it is documented. I’m glad my brothers and sisters stood up for themselves. At least 400 people believed the arrests unwarranted.

if the feds had orders to stop the gathering then the people had rights to throw stones. becuase our constition protects theirs rights. the feds are wrong to go there unless a private person complains.

learn common law
learn admiralty law
take time to know the difference
see which one you were raised to obey

Think About It

July 6, 2008 at 11:58 am

Common sense (and experience) also suggests that sometimes police prevaricate or exaggerate about the behavior of individuals or crowds in order to justify their use of excessive force, Jane. Just like other people, Police officers don’t like to be reprimanded, or to lose their jobs or be prosecuted, and have even been known to tell untruths to protect one another.

That being said, again, we really don’t know what happened, since as you and I have now pointed out, common sense could point in two different directions.

Jane Doe

July 6, 2008 at 12:01 pm

People are not convicted at the time of their arrest, Think. It is a crime to interfere with an arrest or to resist arrest, is it not? We don’t get to vote on whether or not someone deserves to be arrested, that is up to law enforcement. A judge or jury decides guilt or innocence, not the mob. The delusions here are incredible!

And no, I would never go to a Rainbow gathering and certainly wouldn’t take children to one. The few Rainbows i have met have been strange people without respect for other people’s property who will steal anything they can get away with while claiming that people shouldn’t own personal property.

Common sense tells me that Jackson Hole Wyoming is Cheney territory, and Herr VP is no doubt pissed that some hippies have the temerity to assemble peaceably there in that fortress of Republicanism.

have a peaceful day,
Bill

matt

July 6, 2008 at 12:05 pm

jane your fed game is not working here
so why don’t you get back to protecting your system somewhere else
your point we all know is that when i cop speaks you listen to it like its biblical
and questioning authority does not work for your lifestyle
just leave that up to us ok.
admiralty jane should me your new name

Jane Doe

July 6, 2008 at 12:11 pm

Yeah Matt, when a cop tells me to do something I do it. I have never been shot or arrested. I question authority all the time in a legal manner. There is a process for filing complaints which I follow, not throwing sticks and rocks at law enforcement. Insult all you like, but I believe in a nation of laws where every one is held accountable, even Rainbows.

Jane Doe

July 6, 2008 at 12:13 pm

Is it any wonder some of these people are without houses and jobs with their attitudes?

matt

July 6, 2008 at 12:15 pm

listen jane
its called civil disobedience the law never says to protest. but people do. i bet you have never sat in on any protest .. cause everything is just so peachy in your world
you make me sick

matt

July 6, 2008 at 12:16 pm

jane you don’t understand admiralty law do you?
what is common law and what is admiralty law?
which one do you obey”
simple question answer it please

matt

July 6, 2008 at 12:17 pm

if you don’t please read about it then come back with a open mind cause your mind is closed out

Jane Doe

July 6, 2008 at 12:18 pm

Throwing sticks and rocks at law enforcement doing their job is not civil disobidience Matt. It is criminal assault. You are a delusional nutcase without any connection to reality. I have protested PEACEFULLY many times starting probably long before you were born. You have probably been sick for years and should seek help before you hurt yourself or others.

matt

July 6, 2008 at 12:19 pm

jane if a cop told you to put the camera away while he was beating a student would you?

matt

July 6, 2008 at 12:19 pm

jane the law ? please answer it

matt

July 6, 2008 at 12:20 pm

admiralty or common?
which is it?
do not dodge

matt

July 6, 2008 at 12:21 pm

and yes i will get shot or arrested for human rights and maybe every now and then constitutional rights.

matt

July 6, 2008 at 12:22 pm

i am delusional till you answer my question jane…

Jane Doe

July 6, 2008 at 12:23 pm

I’m not wasting any more time with your insanity Matt.

matt

July 6, 2008 at 12:24 pm

just admit you don’t know common law?

matt

July 6, 2008 at 12:24 pm

cause you ignorant and don’t want to learn
your lazy
your sick
and your tired
well i’m not

matt

July 6, 2008 at 12:26 pm

jane the robot get out of this discussion your points are naive and wrong against basic human rights

Wow, accusing Jane of being some sort of right-wing hardliner. I never thought I’d see the day.

matt

July 6, 2008 at 12:37 pm

jane says im insane cause i talk law with her
sunnybrayer your and you pot remarks are lame it shows you have no brain and all you do is proofread and tell people to go smoke
well its childish but hey at least we all know you have good spelling a n d grammar

matt

July 6, 2008 at 12:37 pm

don’t have a tv but i like movies

matt

July 6, 2008 at 12:38 pm

jane i will never hurt myself or anyone i love peace
i also love the truth something you are having trouble with

matt

July 6, 2008 at 12:44 pm

the laws are wrong and need to be changed

matt

July 6, 2008 at 12:48 pm

i would not throw stones at anyone that would hurt them, but i would get in the way scream, yell , assemble , form a line to stop pigs from breaking up some gathering. they had no right and either do you sticking up for the gross feds you sicko

Anonymous

July 6, 2008 at 12:50 pm

Then you would get arrested Matt for breaking the law.

Think About It

July 6, 2008 at 12:52 pm

I wouldn’t accuse Jane of being a right-wing hardliner based on her comments here. But I would say that she seems pretty quick to give credence to the version of events as given by the cops, and also pretty quick to think that she knows what Rainbow Gatherings are like and how their participants are likely to act based on having met just a few self-decribed “Rainbows” herself, and admittedly never having been to a Rainbow Gathering herself.

I also think she is tending to show some of the symptoms of acute blogitis, a common condition in which the sufferer is quick to engage in exchanges of insults and far-out claims, and seemingly uninterested in identifying areas of agreement or engaging with individuals who are willing to take part in reasoned debate.

Unfortunate, but not uncommon. I attribute it to the fact that many people treat these comment threads as entertainment, and/or as an opportunity for virtual jousting where both combatants can feel like they “won” after each little one-liner they post. There’s nothing wrong with this, I suppose, but I find it rather boring myself. I’d much rather actually try to identify where our views diverge and why, rather than just “one-up” the other person, or get in the “last word.”

So if Jane, or anyone else, really wants to discuss what MAY have happened in this incident, what we do and don’t really know and how we think we know it, and how these Rainbow Gatherings could might best be approached by law enforcement (and vice versa) I’m game to discuss it and consider all points of view. But if people just want to throw verbal sticks and stones, then…yawn…I’ll just move along…

Anonymous

July 6, 2008 at 12:53 pm

I would say that she seems pretty quick to give credence to the version of events as given by the cop

As are people here pretty quick to give instant validity to virtually any perspective that runs counter to authority.

matt

July 6, 2008 at 12:55 pm

i am not affraid
unlike others who are totally brainwashed with fear of arrest and jail from the hands of their govt
stay in line
color in the lines
line up
since kindergarden they have been telling me to do something with lines (so many believe in it)
i like to swirve

tad

July 6, 2008 at 12:58 pm

Peace be with you Jane

The Casper Star-Tribune wrote: “last week the Forest Service had assembled an incident management team in Wyoming of more than 40 law enforcement officers from throughout the United States, as well as police dogs and administrative personnel, to police the event.” And: “as of last Friday the agency had already installed rotating crews of officers to police the gathering around the clock.”

Now I know family and they don’t really like confrontations. You couldn’t get 400 of them to protect anyone they didn’t believe needed protecting. 40 cops, with dogs, out in the middle of nowhere, shoots people, maybe even children, with pepper balls, pulls mamas hair, and end up arresting 4 more people, all to pursue as Rita Vollmer, spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service, stated “one person described as being uncooperative.” Who’s the aggressor here?

love eternal
tad

Anonymous

July 6, 2008 at 12:58 pm

Matt, thank you for nicely illustrating my point. You have a psychological aversion to authority.

matt

July 6, 2008 at 1:01 pm

fact are this
i don’t hurt you or yours
i don’t damage you or yours
then why the hell are you stopping me and asking me for some id card. back in the day a pig could get hurt if he had no right to stop somone. where is the private citizen to complain?
if none then stay the hell away from me pig or else.
waco texas
the atf\had no rights and they were shot and the people that shot them were acquitted, oh ya they were also made examples of by torching all there children..

screw the atf fbi cia dea and all organizations that don’t believe in common law.

like i said no official in my life has made it better
beside the occaisional jump start
screw people who want to put people in prison for non violent crimes (stealing is violent) … the world will change and get right and someday i will see freedom or i will die and then it won’t be my problem anymore..

matt

July 6, 2008 at 1:14 pm

my psychological aversion is toward the truth sorry the fed does not even come close to that

Anonymous

July 6, 2008 at 1:19 pm

Be careful brother matt,

HumRed might down a couple of scotches and decide you need to be forcibly medicated with his big pharma crap.

Never thought I’d be a sayin’ this, but I agree with Jane. Matt’s off his rocker.

Jane Doe

July 6, 2008 at 1:34 pm

All Rainbows are self-described, Thinking. And remember, these weren’t ordinary cops but forest service law enforcement assigned to patrol a large gathering of people without leadership which most reasonable people would think is a good idea. That there were problems is also to be expected as there usually are at least a few arrests. These gatherings draw people of good will and people who are no good as do most gatherings regardless of their nature and all require law enforcement presence. Until there is logical evidence that the forest service employees acted inappropriately, I will give them the benefit of the doubt over people who are well known for their lack of respect for any authority with stories that only make sense if you believe anyone who tries to enforce laws is evil.

I suppose I am rightwing relative to anarchists. So is almost everyone else. It all depends on where you draw the center line.

matt

July 6, 2008 at 1:35 pm

does anyone understand common law on this blog?
rose does it make me crazy to discuss this topic that has so much meaning to this story.

jane is admiralty law..
i am extremme common law….
jane ties her knots correctlty
i can give two shits cause i am not on a ship and i don’t even need to touch the ropes.

does anyone get what i am saying
jane your wrong and you need to answer my og ?’s about admiralty and common law? or can anyone on this blog for that matter
have you ever heard the term “maritime voyage” well it needs to go back out to sea

Jane Doe

July 6, 2008 at 1:35 pm

*dividing line

matt

July 6, 2008 at 1:36 pm

ships can’t sink if they are on land

matt

July 6, 2008 at 1:40 pm

if you belive in common law and what this country was built from nowadays then your a anarchist

Anonymous

July 6, 2008 at 1:51 pm

matt you just don’t understand, our country was founded on the Ten Commandments and it says right in them to obey the police.

you must have been home schooled.

matt

July 6, 2008 at 1:57 pm

thanks for the humor but when are we going to get right

Think About It

July 6, 2008 at 2:24 pm

“All Rainbows are self-described, Thinking.”

Yes, but the point was that you admittedly only met a few people who described themselves as such, and you met none of them at Rainbow Gatherings (which you haven’t attended).

So, although I agree that the idea that the cops should never have a role to play at these Gatherings is an unrealistic view, I also don’t assume that the cops are telling the truth in this case, or that people who were there who have a different view of what happened are blinded by their (assumed) anti-authoritarianism.

I agree with your summary that “These gatherings draw people of good will and people who are no good as do most gatherings…” as my earlier post should make clear.

And it’s perfectly human have a preconception of the cops (or for that matter the Rainbows) and therefore “give them the benefit of the doubt” – which is a lot different than knowing what happened and asserting as fact claims for which you have no direct knowledge. That goes for Matt, Tad, etc., too, by the way.

But I think you should give a little more thought to what basis you really have for stereotyping Rainbow Gathering attendees. I’ve been to a few Gatherings, mostly about a decade ago, and my experience was a remarkable lack of “crime” or conflict given such a large group of people in a very unstructured environment. The several interactions between Rainbows and Forest Service personnel that I witnessed were very civil on both ends, and even when there was disagreement these interactions were mostly oriented toward reaching solutions rather than confrontation. But of course that doesn’t mean that either side is incapable of confrontation and uncivil behavior, both groups are made up of human beings and therefore capable of bad behavior in bad circumstances.

And I strongly disagree that the Rainbow’s accounts of what happened are “…stories that only make sense if you believe anyone who tries to enforce laws is evil.” When police exaggerate about the nature of an interaction with a crowd where the officers, out of fear or adrenaline, overreact to the circumstances and use excessive or unnecessary force, that is not necessarily an example of “evil” on the part of the cops, to me it’s more along the lines of interpreting events in such a way to paint oneself in the best possible light, to justify one’s behavior. That’s not quite “evil” but really rather normal human behavior, though not the kind of behavior that should be applauded or tolerated. I suspect that there was probably some of this sort of self-justifying thinking taking place on both sides as they described what happened.

But again, neither you nor I really know quite how all of this went down, what the general intentions of the local Forest Service command was (to keep the peace and stop crimes, or to aggressively maintain “order” in a provocative way). So we’re both talking about what might have happened. The difference is that you are claiming that your speculation is more valid, based on your very limited experience with Rainbows.

I don’t know what happened either, but I do know that the Forest Service has a decades-long record of trying various legal and on-the-ground tactics to abolish, not just police, these Gatherings. Therefore their motive to act provocatively is not any harder for me to imagine than it is for me to imagine that some Rainbows had an “anti-authoritarian” motive that would lead them to act as the cops claim they did.

But again, I’m guessing that there is some fault to be found on both sides. From my own experience at political demonstrations, concerts and other gatherings I can say without question that it’s scary and disturbing to see people who do not appear to be causing any problem suddenly set upon and dragged away by the police (of course as the observer we still may not know the whole story – are they a wanted murderer, rapist, etc?). It’s also scary when people who just object verbally to the apparent police brutality are then attacked physically by the police. If this really happened at the Gathering that would be very concerning, too.

I’ve never been a police officer, but I can also easily imagine that it must be quite scary to be encircled by a crowd of some 400 people making very insistent demands that you release your arrestee, something that you know you are not supposed to do (assuming you were arresting them for a good reason in the first place). And of course this situation would be even scarier and more dangerous if rocks and sticks were really being thrown at them.

So I really can see both sides of this, and how either side, or both, might be responsible for an incident like this. If people can try to put aside for a moment their prejudices for or against the cops, or for or against the Rainbows, I think most of us could agree that we really don’t know who is at fault based on the scanty information we have seen so far.

So, again, in my opinion this has mostly been an exercise in taking one’s preexisting stereotypes and superimposing them onto the scanty facts, revealing nothing about what really happened, but revealing a great deal about people’s preexisting stereotypes of the two groups involved.

Think about it.

matt

July 6, 2008 at 2:41 pm

policing is not required a rainbows . thats what the elders are for. peaceful people policing themselves

what a crazy concept.. it has to be anarchy at those rainbows and we can’t have that
elders control the show and thats that police just came and bullied everyone to leave and any resistance was futile
the feds said “this is cheney’s land” they would never of let it happen they broke the gathering up
i heard a lot of great things were going to be prayed for, ending the war, feeding the hungry, clothing the cold.. the govt can’t have that, or else they would’nt have jobs…

Anonymous

July 6, 2008 at 2:50 pm

Keep writing Matt. You’re a hoot to read.

tad

July 6, 2008 at 2:54 pm

Peace be with you think

I don’t really agree that I can not make an educated judgment of what happened. Yes I am not there, but I have been to many rainbow gatherings and I agree that the police are not necessary. First of all 40 cops from around the country with attack dogs and pepper ball guns are not just park rangers. They are LEOs (Law Enforcement Officers). Here are some in action. Second, the Forest Service spokesperson said the were only there to get a person for “being uncooperative.” I’ve seen too many confrontations between the Forest Service and the Rainbows to believe for one minute the the Forest Service is the good guys here. Maybe if they had one or two people disagree with the removable of the “uncooperative” individual I could believe they were doing the right thing, but when 400 people say fuck you I have to suspect that the cops were being pigs.

love eternal
tad

tad

July 6, 2008 at 3:00 pm

Peace be with you

“This is all a bullshit story made up by the police. I was there when this happened. The police fired shots at a safe haven for kids called Kiddy Village. They first tried to arrest a woman for no reason. When she resisted, the police tackled her. That is when us Rainbows started calling for help, and the police fired on us with pepper spray filled paintballs. The police then fired shots and hit a child, before turning to fire upon another man carrying a child on his back. The man went down and the child fell. How the police turned this around to say that we were throwing rocks at them is astonishing when I personally witnessed no rocks or sticks being thrown. However I did see armed police officers firing at unarmed citizens.” From Pissed off Former Democrat

love eternal
tad

matt

July 6, 2008 at 3:02 pm

i agree with tad
if people do not realize what we are saying then those cops who beat rodney king are innocent also.

400 people who are 1 do not need police
a husband and wife split deattached that are not together need police,
citizens who don’t know there neighbors or try to make their neighbors lives better, not by calling the cops on them but by simply asking them what they are doing and talking to them about it will make this world change.
i talk to my neighbors all the time
they do things i don’t like in their own homes but it does not infringe on me. if it did i would go over there at 3am or whatever time and tell them to quite whatevers bothering me. i don’t need a piggy to do it for me. i don’t want my taxes going toward piggys

Matt, you need to learn to tie good knots. It’s a good skill to have. Join boy Scouts or something. You could save a life someday, because a badly tied knot can give way and … you know, a few real life skills would probably make a big difference.

I’m standing with Jane on this one.

matt

July 6, 2008 at 3:30 pm

so those cops are innocent
its the same story

police against the innocent

why were the feds there?
cause a unrully civilian?
why 40 dogs for one unrully civilian.
bcause they were all unrully in the feds eyes
they smoke herb, take shit that open the mind and the heart and creates life all around them … that is a threat to the fed just like the native americans were a threat to the settlers
your an ass

matt

July 6, 2008 at 3:31 pm

don’t stick up for the fed ever
its disgusting and repulsive to see that

matt

July 6, 2008 at 3:31 pm

people make change
not feds

matt

July 6, 2008 at 3:32 pm

people assembling make change not the park ranger, or the pig

Anonymous

July 6, 2008 at 3:32 pm

they smoke herb, take shit that open the mind and the heart and creates life all around them … that is a threat to the fed

That’s exactly right Matt. They hate us because of our freedom.

Did you steal George rhetoric playbook? You’re channeling Turdblossom.

matt

July 6, 2008 at 3:33 pm

stand with the people or stand with the fed
pick your side
i know where mine lies

tad

July 6, 2008 at 3:38 pm

Peace be with you 3:22

How many times have you taken what writers wrote, and twisted it around to be the opposite? You must be new on the job. Your boss forgot to tell you that we are not as stupid as you. You have to shake up the disruptor tactics so we can’t just go “look a one trick pony.” Why don’t you take the rest of the day off, and first thing tomorrow someone will teach the ropes. Hahahahahaha.

love eternal
tad

Anonymous

July 6, 2008 at 3:39 pm

stand with the people or stand with the fed pick your side

You’re either with us, or you’re against us.

Keep it up Matt, you’re three-for-three in the fascism playbook. You’re a totalitarian dictator in the making.

Anonymous

July 6, 2008 at 3:40 pm

How many times have you taken what writers wrote, and twisted it around to be the opposite?

Truth hurts, eh Tad?

Anonymous

July 6, 2008 at 3:44 pm

You know Tad, you have nothing to fear. Each time I ‘twisted’ Matt’s words, I quoted them first. The people can decide all on their own whether I twisted his wholesome ideas, or clarified them to reveal a dark insidious underbelly. Trying to shut me up with insults only furthers my point.

matt

July 6, 2008 at 3:45 pm

whatever i am i try to make it so people don’t go to jail for not hurting anyone ,, i try to make people accountable for all their actions, i go places and i want to make them better for the people who live there
call me facist or whatever but these are my beliefs.

tad

July 6, 2008 at 3:46 pm

Peace be with you

Very sagacious advice Rose – “Matt, you need to learn to tie good knots . . . could save a life someday.” Either go to the knot tying workshop at the next gathering you go to, or go sit in a tree.

love eternal
tad

matt

July 6, 2008 at 3:47 pm

i dontwant to twist molest or fuck with anyone i want my point made and for people to understand thouroughly. isn’t that why we are all here.
get to your point tell me your passions
or are we nondreamers here
maybe some should smoke to kick in the dreams that are undeveloped

tad

July 6, 2008 at 3:47 pm

Peace be with you

I’m just curious are you working for a news-paper owner, the government, or a private contractor working for the government?

love eternal
tad

matt

July 6, 2008 at 3:48 pm

i rarely go sailing on shore so those knots you talk of
i dunno

matt

July 6, 2008 at 3:49 pm

keep riding the big ship people

matt

July 6, 2008 at 3:49 pm

i mean sheople

tad

July 6, 2008 at 3:52 pm

Peace be with you 3:44 pm

“clarified them to reveal a dark insidious underbelly”

Kinda “red baiting” there don’t you think?

love eternal
tad

Moviedad

July 6, 2008 at 3:53 pm

I suppose having had prior experience with police brutality; I can be a bit biased towards the side that says the police were the aggressors. Well, can you tell me of an incident or riot where the police were not the aggressors? LA riots maybe? My relatives who fought in WW2 against fascism are rolling in their graves. What has happened to our country? Oh, it’s a free country alright; just don’t you dare attempt to exercise any of that freedom. Freedom of assembly is just that. The right to assemble, it doesn’t say that first you have to gain permission from the totalitarians you might be assembling against. Most of our Bill of Rights were not designed by the rich white men in charge, but the angry mob those rich white men were afraid of. What rights do we have, the right to do as we are told? I’m sorry for Jane, I wish I could change her mind.
I don’t know exactly what happened. But read the report and it becomes pretty clear: “Cop-Speak” vs. slightly differing, but overall agreement from the campers about what happened. I am so tired of hearing how hard things are for law enforcement. Why hasn’t the Gunderson case brought up the question of why the small town of Blue Lake needs 17 sub-machine guns, who are the potential targets of that kind of weaponry? There is a one-size-fits-all policy toward anyone daring to break the rules. Jane said that she always does what police order her to do. What a sad statement coming from an American. The police are supposed to do what we tell them to do.
The propaganda runs so deep, I feel almost hopeless about people fighting back against the fascism that has taken hold of the US. Yes it has been going on for a long time, but now the gloves are off and the criminals of the ruling class no longer feel the need to hide their actions. Remember Nixon? I was so sure things were going to change. It’s so depressing that after all this time we are worse off now.
Please stop defending the atrocious actions of the authorities. They are your worst enemies, whether you know it or not.
There is agreement among the witnesses that the Feds stormed the Children’s village. How can you defend that?
And not to sound too cliché, I disagree with some of the statements here, but I totally defend the right of others to disagree with me.

Anonymous

July 6, 2008 at 3:56 pm

Kinda “red baiting” there don’t you think?

No, just pointing out that radical elements on the left and right have similar modus operandi. You are more like your worst enemy than you realize. A certain quote from Pogo seems appropriate right about now.

tad

July 6, 2008 at 3:59 pm

Peace be with you Moviedad

Well said. Listening to the links above the victims are pretty well together. They stated their side, claim they have video, and I heard the ACLU is acting as an information gathering center. It’s pretty convincing stuff. It sounded like terror tactic by the forest service.

love eternal
tad

matt

July 6, 2008 at 4:00 pm

stick up for your neighbor who said something to the grower next door about traffic or smell don’t stick up for the pig that did it for you you are scared to go outside aren’t you
affraid of the people down the street

go talk to them tell them what scares you. don’t have the police do it for you

matt

July 6, 2008 at 4:02 pm

fear controls hearts
love conquers fear eventually
love is discussion between people
not guns and silence

Anonymous

July 6, 2008 at 4:18 pm

love is discussion between people
not guns and silence

Partly true. Love is not guns and silence. Love is also not dogs biting my ankles. But maybe dogs humping in the park is love. Who can say?

matt

July 6, 2008 at 4:25 pm

love is pure feeling from a crying child in iraq that just got bombed by our federal goverment and their mom died and we call her collateral damage. do not stick up for those people taxing us.. they are bad do not stick up for people who are waving guns in people faces for complete control. do not stick up for people with guns. join against them if they are trying to wave those things out in public especially the forrest. i love guns but only in my home. you know the home i will never own cause i have this tax that can never be paid.

OWNED I AM by social security and all the other #’s attached to this body.

Good Rockin' Derral

July 6, 2008 at 4:44 pm

Let’s see. Obstructed people from doing their work. Harassed them, threatened and assaulted them. Sounds like they’ve brought along a copy of the Earth First? playbook.

Love, momentarily, GRD

matt

July 6, 2008 at 4:49 pm

doing their work ?

ha ha ha their work was to disemble the crowd in the middle of bfe

sunnybrayer

July 6, 2008 at 6:50 pm

God Matt,
You are the same as the people you claim to be against…isn’t it a gross generalization to say all feds or cops are “piggies”? You rant against being oppressed, yet you are a hate filled oppressor.

I am stoked to be the one to bring up Huricane Katrina, and the lack of relief efforts by our government. ” The Rainbow Emergency Management Assembly gathered in Waveland Missahippie within days of the hurricane disaster, to feed people.”
If a single person was to pick up a rock or stick in a violent way at a Rainbow Gathering there would be dozens at least, to intervene and stop it. We call it ‘Shanta Sena’ and it is how we police our community. If you are robbed or a uniformed man is threatening your family you yell for Shanta Sena. There are elders with radios who keep an eye on things but ultimately all of us are Shanta Sena(Peace Warriors) and willing to help someone in trouble.
I’ve been to dozens of gatherings. I’ve seen Park Rangers have terrific relationships with folks at gatherings. Rainbows have been responsive to the Rangers concerns and requests. I’ve made the rangers coffee and have been told of the local edible plants etc.. And no problems
I’ve seen southern police terrorize Rainbows. I’ve seen police shooting at us in the forest at dark. (small regional gathering) I’ve seen Rainbows keep their fires dim and surrounded so that their whereabouts would not be exactly known. I’ve seen women huddled with the children and encircled by the men to protect them from the random shots the police were taking. And while we were all huddled, afraid, and silent; I heard them laughing about it all (maybe we shouldn’t have our kids exposed to the world these cops came from, keep in the forest with the kind Rainbow Fam,lol). This went on for weeks. Finally one man got fed up and shed his fear before us, this was contagious. They stoked the fires, strummed the guitars, and started singing and drumming. The police never returned after that !
That spare-changing hippie on the plaza is a ‘drainbow’. That hippie might go to Rainbow gatherings though because they can hold their hand out, be fed, and not judged. From our example maybe they too will learn how to give, and to themselves most importantly. You see, these gatherings are where we heal ourselves and each other. It’s not a party, and those that think so are not so appreciated. People are smoking, but alcohol use is not allowed at the gathering, neither are ‘drugs’, or guns. Cops are often asked respectively; “please do not bring guns to our church”.
Once your beloved system(your protectors? the Authorities) is through committing suicide we will be here still and ready (we’ve been practicing:) There will be a place for ya at the table, even the cops.
While we all know the Katrina story we don’t all know about all the heroes involved. We know it was not our government rushing in to feed the hungry, is was some Rainbow Family. Some of these people involved in setting up the Waveland Cafe are friends of mine from the gatherings. Please read and watch the following! This is what Rainbow gatherings are really all about.

I do not understand, first you delete me, then you call me out.
Not really into scotch or Rx’ing anyone. However I guess anyone who disagrees with this group is going to be labeled.
It’s kind of funny what has happened to this site and sad. Jane a right winger, maybe the point was to see if I see read. Or you thought things were a little off to the left.

Matt, your not an anarchist, just a mouthy little socialist want to be. A bit of a bully too. None of your thoughts are your own just parrot talk. I believe you and tad must share the same meds.

You sound like a child with all this piggy talk. As for being oppressed, the scary part is reality that your some 50 year old dirt bag living off society on some government program.

REMA

July 7, 2008 at 9:48 am

Cops assaulted by Rainbows chanting OM?!!!!

“It seems that an incident took place on the late
afternoon of July 3rd, on site at Kiddie Village
involving the arrest of some Rainbow Folks, the
law enforcement officers being surrounded by an Om
Circle, and then the firing into the crowd by LEOs
of some sort of projectiles while the LEOs exited
the site.”

REMA

July 7, 2008 at 9:59 am

* Apparently, the folks onsite have been informed
that if they ever shout Shanti Sena (our call for
help) that the person calling may be arrested for
inciting a riot. Apparently, they are not aware
that the call is used to gather many people who
will surround the situation with a circle of calm,
peaceful council members intent on defusing the
situation and come to a peaceful resolution.

* There currently is no proper plan in place to
evacuate severely injured or sick people from the
Big Sandy site.

* Jai was busted for having a string of beads
hanging from his rear-view mirror while driving
in. Please have your vehicle registered with no
violations. Wear your seat belts, go the speed
limit. Of course, that is good advice driving into
ANY gathering.

kateascot

July 7, 2008 at 11:53 am

Movie Dad…..thank-you for such a heart felt and no nonsense post. Freedom is only that when we exercise it, it is then that we know what is truly free. Free speech is free if all are respected when speaking a thought, if that action is disrespected and the speaker is threatened then freedom has not been realized. As an American I act on and exercise freedom, I cannot just sit back and say this is the greatest country in the world if I am not peacefully exercising my freedom in every encounter with other humans. It looks to me like we have a country right now that is quickly going the way of the ruling party, everyone must act alike, look alike, and speak like those who are in power. Diversity is not respected. People dress the same, drive cars that impress people, talk like those in power with all the buzz words and political correctness, look on social issues the same and expect everyone to agree or face consequences. This current climate is oppressive and is not Freedom. Elitism is very much similar to fascism and not acceptable to any true patriot. God blessed America and allowed us to grow and prosper in His grace and we had the opportunity to spread Freedom and love of diversity through the world, but we have forgotten what freedom really is and have replaced it with a police and military state. We’ve lost the ability to govern ourselves and have become the most violent country in the world. We have fallen into tyranny and our only hope is at a grass-roots level, we must unite and bring peace back into the dialoue.

Anonymous

July 7, 2008 at 12:04 pm

God blessed America and allowed us to grow and prosper in His grace and we had the opportunity to spread Freedom and love of diversity through the world,

Straight from the buffalo’s mouth.

kateascot

July 7, 2008 at 12:05 pm

Excuse me? What’s that?

Anonymous

July 7, 2008 at 12:27 pm

Kate, I was being sarcastic –duh, are you that thick? What do you think the Indians thought of your asshole god’s grace?

Red Hummer

July 7, 2008 at 12:36 pm

Hey HumRed:

However I guess anyone who disagrees with this group is going to be labeled.

Matt, your not an anarchist, just a mouthy little socialist want to be. A bit of a bully too

None of your thoughts are your own just parrot talk.

Sounds like you’re good at labeling too. If you don’t like this group, and don’t like this blog, why the fuck even come here? Your anti socialist remarks make you sound like some kind of latter day McCarthy. Your negativity is astounding. Maybe YOU should get on some meds.

kateascot

July 7, 2008 at 12:46 pm

Wow, ate some sour grapes today? Caught your sarcasm but haven’t become a mind reader yet and wisdom is teaching me not to jump to conclusions, so I asked you to clarify your statement.
A few years ago I spent a summer with Buffalos and was able to meet some Hopi Indians and get to know them. I worship the Creator of us all and found companionship with my new friends in our mutual creation experience. The god you speak of is not the same as you speak of, I suspect.

kateascot

July 7, 2008 at 12:47 pm

Sorry got distracted, you and I are not speaking of the same god, God….

kateascot

July 7, 2008 at 12:52 pm

Last 2 posts directed to anon 12:27

Anonymous

July 7, 2008 at 3:06 pm

Kate, I don’t know which grapes are you are speaking of. I assume that you were referring to Aesop’s fable, ‘The Fox and the Grapes’, which is the usual reference to that term. Or are you now going to say that you were referring to some other sour grapes story (perhaps one that ‘wisdom’ is teaching you?) and that the grapes that you meant were not the same grapes as the ones that we all know of from the fable as being ‘out of reach’. Maybe you should go and read the story so that you can try to understand it’s meaning. Then you will be able to use the metaphor correctly to say that your god, the true God, the god who you say blessed America and allowed us to grow and prosper in His grace, is out of reach for poor unenlightened souls like me.

We’ve lost the ability to govern ourselves and have become the most violent country in the world.? We have fallen into tyranny and our only hope is at a grass-roots level, we must unite and bring peace back into the dialoue.

???? Are you insane? Kate! Honestly. Honestly? This is the most violent country in the world?

Really. You cannot be that ignorant of condition in other countries, kate.

kateascot

July 7, 2008 at 5:05 pm

OK we have the most prisons in the world, that is violent. We have dropped nuclear bombs on the human race, that is violent and violent beyond other countries in the world.

kateascot

July 7, 2008 at 5:08 pm

Anon 3:06……sour grapes like you ate em and now have a tummy ache and are lashing out at me…..

Anonymous

July 7, 2008 at 5:36 pm

Kate, the grapes that I eat are very sweet and good. What I’m saying is that I am insulted by the ignorance and disrespect that you are displaying when you say, God blessed America and allowed us to grow and prosper in His grace.

kateascot

July 7, 2008 at 5:47 pm

What disrespect? Idon’t understand what you are talking about, how is my reverence for God insulting to you?

Anonymous

July 7, 2008 at 6:22 pm

Disrespect for what was here before your god arrived. Did the buffalo grow and prosper from your gods grace?

REMA

July 7, 2008 at 6:35 pm

We’re gonna let Kate call whatever her definition of God whatever word she wants. This is America. Who is understanding you Anonymous?

REMA

July 7, 2008 at 6:38 pm

OH, and America dropped a nuc on another country like no other country has.
‘CALIFORNIA’ HAS MORE PEOPLE INCARCERATED THAN ANY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD, and you call us a peace loving nation?

i’m not a bully
i’m not a socialist
i’m not anything so don’t worry about me

matt

July 8, 2008 at 12:24 am

i present facts and people have real problems with facts
thats what it seems like to me
please understand i don’t want to bs anyone i want people to realize what is…..

chris

July 19, 2009 at 11:45 pm

I’ve recently created a wikipedia entry for Operation Green Sweep. The more info and details we can get uploaded (such as the scans of those local news articles you have) the better the record of this event. Incidentally, another user refuses to allow any mention of Green Sweep on the Humboldt County page.